Rural Sociology Commons^™

A Critical Consideration Of The Introduction Of Community-Service Learning Projects To Courses In The Sociology Of Social Problems, Karl T. Pfeiffer

Great Plains Sociologist

This paper examines the introduction of community service learning activities in lower division (200 level) undergraduate Sociology of Social Problems courses. Data from student evaluations and grades are presented for five semesters of this class between 1994-1996 (n=98), prior to the introduction of a community service learning option. This data is contrasted with five semesters of the class between 1996-1998 (n=141), following the introduction of service learning activities. Despite generally positive feedback from students and increased enrollments, results suggest that student performance as measured by grades has not significantly changed with the introduction of community service activities. Also student evaluations …

From The Educator's Eye: Images Of Homeless In Rural And Urban Middle-America, Susan E. Wright, R. Dean Wright

Great Plains Sociologist

Poverty and homelessness are popularly conceptualized as urban phenomena. This tendency is reinforced by media and lack of academic research and persists despite increasing evidence that poverty and homelessness areas prevalent in rural as in urban areas. This paper compares data collected from educators in several rural and urban counties in Iowa It looks at actual levels of poverty and reported homelessness, and compares the perceptions of the severity and causes of homelessness as reported by rural and urban educators. It concludes that the difficulties faced by poor people in rural areas are compounded by the tendency of small town …

Front Matter

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter
Editorial Policy Statement
Contents

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Karen Heil Borchert, reviewer
Rural Woman Battering and the Justice System: An Ethnography
Neil Websdale

Jerome R. Rosonke, reviewer
The Hutterites: Lives and Images of a Communal People
Paul Cloke and Jo Little, editors

Elizabeth Evenson Williams, reviewer
The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado
Elliott West

Carol Cumber, reviewer
Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City
Linda McDowell

Don Robertson, reviewer
Who Rules America? Power and Politics in the Year 2000
William Domhoff

Glenda Sehested, reviewer
Formations of Class and Gender: Becoming Respectable
Beverley Skeggs

Annette Prosterman, reviewer
White Men Falling: Race, Gender, and White …

The Not So Wonderful World Of Disney: An Exploratory Content Analysis Of Gender Themes In Disney Full Length Animated Feature Films, Beth Wiersma

Great Plains Sociologist

Research has focused on the gender messages portrayed in television programs, cartoons, advertisements, literature, picture books, and fairy tales. One venue not included in the research is the Disney full-length animated feature films. The initial research on which this article is based was an exploration of the themes of gender, violence and anthropomorphism in Disney films. Emergent themes include heterosexual couplings, family constellations, good versus evil, and villains. This article will cover only the gender themes. Five areas were used to code gender content which include: physical appearance, personality traits, in-home labor, out of home employment, and societal and familial …

The Potential For Participatory Development Around The Takini School Howes, South Dakota, Amanda Gilvin

Great Plains Sociologist

This article examines community development issues faced in the vicinity of the Takini School, a small grant school on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. By exploring various suggestions regarding participatory development, I consider possibilities for Takini's future, as well as how a development agent might function in the emerging community.

A Social Disorganization Theory Of County Crime Rates In Minnesota, J. Mark Norman, Donald E. Arwood

Great Plains Sociologist

This analysis is an application of social disorganization theory for understanding variations in county crime rates in the state of Minnesota. Social disorganization is seen as the breakdown of community institutions of social control, where indicators of breakdown included such things as family disruption and over-crowding. With few exceptions, measures of social disorganization were found to he correlated with county crime rates, with three variables as showing up as especially important; these are percent of children not living with both parents, per capita alcohol tax collected in the county, and net-migration. Three variables—percent of persons with incomes less than $5000, …

Front Matter

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter
Editorial Policy Statement
Contents

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Diane Kayongo-Male, reviewer
Rural Health and Aging Research: Theory, Methods, and Practical Applications
Wilbert M. Gesler, Donna J. Rabiner, and Gordon H. DeFriese, editors

Geoffrey Grant, reviewer
Cutting Into the Meatpacking Line: Workers and Change in the Rural Midwest
Deborah Fink

Jerome R. Rosonke, reviewer
Born Hutterite (video tape)
Black Hat Production

Laura Colmenero, reviewer
Capturing Women: The Manipulation of Cultural Imagery in Canada's Prairie West
Sarah Carter

Ellen Baird, reviewer
American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture
Joane Nagel

Mary Warner, reviewer
Durable Inequality
Charles Tilly

Jack Niemonen, reviewer
Culture of Intolerance: Chauvinism, …

Citizens Academy: Police Culture, Community Policing, Or Public Relations?, Scott Magnisson-Martinson

Great Plains Sociologist

This article focuses on a comparison of police citizen academy stated goals and actual experience. The methods used are observational. Personal experience and communication are used to understand the socialization processes into police culture in the academy on classism, sexism, and racism.

The Importance Of College Student Academic Goals: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach, Donald E. Arwood, Donna J. Hess

Great Plains Sociologist

A cross-sectional study of a sample of first and second year students attending a moderately-sized, Great Plains university is used to demonstrate the correlation between academic self-conceptions and academic goals. Multiple regression analysis shows that academic self-conceptions, academic role-taking, job goals, being a parent, and having a Job are excellent predictors of academic goals. The authors recommend that the symbolic interactionist perspective used in the study should be used to study how academic goals link academic self-conceptions with academic behaviors and outcomes.

Criminal Justice: In Search Of A Human Face, Madhava Bodapati, Harry Hoffman

Great Plains Sociologist

In this paper, we view the unfolding discourse of what is referred to as the Peacemaking and Peacekeeping approach. It is a discourse purporting to examine the fundamental assumptions, practices, and truth claims of both criminology and the criminal justice system. The paper begins by providing an overview of what we take to be a central concern currently confronting the CJS and the remedies proposed by peacemaking. We conclude by posing a series of questions which this approach must confront if it is to retain its integrity as a viable alternative to the contemporary approaches it seeks to critique.

The Impact Of Water Scarcity On The World's Future: An Analysis, Laura Colmenero

Great Plains Sociologist

The issue of water, or a lack of it, is predicted to have profound transformational effects on the world in the coming century. Robert Kaplan, Ann Baer, and Thomas Franklin Homer-Dixon provide us with common scenarios of this near future focusing on issues of conflict, control, manipulation, violence, and power. This article will review the scenarios presented by them and then present their findings within a sociological framework.

Front Matter

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter
Editorial Policy Statement
Contents

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Diane Kayongo-Male, reviewer
People, Land, and Community
Hildegarde Hannum

Elizabeth Evenson Williams, reviewer
Contested Countryside Cultures: Otherness, Marginalisation, and Rurality
Paul Cloke and Jo Little, editors

Janet Kelly Moen, reviewer
Changing Rural Social Systems: Adaptation and Survival
Nan E. Johnson and Ching-li Wang, editors

Carol J. Cumber, reviewer
Rural Employment: An International Perspective
Ray D. Bollman and John M. Bryden, editors

Laura Colmenero, reviewer
Writing the Range: Race, Class, and Culture in the Women's West
Elizabeth Jameson and Susan Armitage, editors

William J. Swart, reviewer
Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City is Only the Beginning
Joel Dyer

Ellen Baird, reviewer …

Book Reviews In The Great Plains Sociologist: The Continuation Of A Regional Tradition, Kathleen A. Tiemann, Morten G. Ender

Great Plains Sociologist

On the tenth anniversary of publication of The Great Plains Sociologist, we examine the book section for content and for participation by residents of the Great Plains. Since the inception of this journal feature in 1991, women have published 57 percent (N=57) of all book reviews. Moreover, women at masters and doctoral degree granting institutions have published a greater number of book reviews (52%. N=52) than their male counterparts (41%, N=41) and than women or men at 2-year,four-year, and tribal colleges (5%, N=5 and 2%, N=2 respectively). While there are differences in the topical areas evaluated by women and men, …

The Role Of Economics And Culture In Determining Fertility Rates In Kenya, Randall Rogers

Great Plains Sociologist

The role of both economic and cultural factors are investigated for their impact on fertility rates in Kenya. Economic factors tend to favor rational control of fertility while cultural factors favor uncontrolled fertility. Both demand and supply side reasons are presented to show that fertility decision making is becoming based more on economics and rationality than on tradition. Policy implications are investigated.

A Radical Critique Of Juvenile Boot Camps: A Critical Analysis Of The Juvenile Boot Camp And The Rationale Behind This Form Of Corrections From A Socialist Humanist Perspective, Matt Vidal

Great Plains Sociologist

This paper is a critique of boot camps as a method of juvenile delinquency treatment Humanist theory is applied to suggest that boot camps fail to meet basic treatment philosophy of adaptation to normal communities and reintegration of youth into society as specified by the primary goal of juvenile courts, rehabilitation.

Data Analysis Made Easy: An Undergraduate Student's Guide To Choosing Appropriate Statistical Tests For Social Research, A. Olu Oyinlade

Great Plains Sociologist

This article is written as a guide for undergraduate students in using statistics in the social sciences. Some general guidelines are provided for deciding which statistic to use with different types of data (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio). Four sections are presented: identifying variables, choosing appropriate statistics, computation, and understanding results. This article is not written as a "nuts and bolts" guide to teaching all of statistics but instead is a guide to help students. Instructors of this material may also benefit from these discussions.

Front Matter

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter
Editorial Policy Statement
Table of Contents

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Diane Kayongo-Male, reviewer
Gendered Fields: Rural Women, Agriculture, and Environment
Carolyn Sachs

Henry B. Sirgo, reviewer
Green Culture: Environmental Rhetoric in Contemporary America
Carl G. Herndl and Stuart C. Brown

Janet Kelly Moen, reviewer
New Government for Rural America: Creating Intergovernmental Partnerships
Beryl A. Radin, Robert Aganoff, Ann O'M Bowman, C. Gregory Buntz, Steven Ott, Barbara S. Romzek, and Robert H. Wilson

Jon Flanagin, reviewer
Wanted Dead or Alive: The American Westin Popular Culture
Richard Aquila, editor

Laura Colmenero, reviewer
Contented Among Strangers: Rural German-Speaking Women and Their Families in the Nineteenth-Century Midwest
Linda Schelbitzki Pickle

Elizabeth Evenson Williams, reviewer …

Ethnic Minorities In The People's Republic Of China, Mary Jo Benton Lee

Great Plains Sociologist

In the People's Republic of China, the term "minority nationality" denotes a member of one of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minority groups. Minority nationalities have traditionally been regarded as those who have cultures (particularly languages and religions) that atv distinct from the Han Chine.ie majority. This article focuses on ethnic minorities in China-their significance to the PRC as a whole, the official classification system by which the government identifies them and the history of their interaction with the majority Han population. Higher education in the PRC is discussed with an emphasis on national minority institutes. Two macro issues relating …

Making A Living: Adaptation Strategies Of The Rural Underemployed, Curtis W. Stofferahn

Great Plains Sociologist

This paper examines the methods that underemployed families use to manage their resources to meet their needs. Data for the analysis is from survey and in-depth interviews of 33 respondents to the Rural Life Poll. It attempts to combine rural labor market analysis with anthropological field studies to describe the employment characteristics of the rural underemployed as well as the ways by which the underemployed household supports itself The under-employed worker's attitudes towards work, and how underemployed households combine resources to support a family are examined. These resources include the income from other family member's employment, domestic production for home …

Yes, But...Ruminations On Discounted Membership And Reference Group Rationalizations, Scott Magnuson-Martinson, Mouraine R. Baker

Great Plains Sociologist

Reference group theory posits that people attempt to identify themselves with groups that are esteemed in order to enhance their sense of self-worth. However, it is not uncommon that actors may find themselves being identified with, or identifying with, stigmatized groups or categories. In order to avoid the personally pejorative implications of these associations, these actors often engage in various strategies that take a form similar to accounts which attempt to neutralize possible stigma. Two fundamental normalizations, disidentification and deflected stigma are presented and compared to previous articulations in the literature of stigma management.

Infant Mortality On Northern Plains Reservations, Linda Neuerburg, Janet Kelly Moen

Great Plains Sociologist

The infant mortality among Indian people living on the Northern Plains reservations (18.4per 1,000) is nearly double that of the U.S. infant mortality rate (9.8per 1,000). Data were collected for 19 reservations through the Healthy Start Program established to combat this problem, using the reservation as the unit of analysis. Relationships were hypothesized between reservations with high infant mortality rates and high alcohol consumption, tobacco use, poverty levels, and low availability of certain social services. The analysis substantiated only one major variable—poverty. Further analysis suggested that mortality rates were higher on reservations that did not provide social support programs such …

'Who Am I?': Autophotography As A Teaching And Learning Tool, Morten G. Ender

Great Plains Sociologist

This paper describes a low cost, high student appeal technique for teaching and learning about the self concept via student produced photographs. Autophotography (AP) is a photographic approach to understanding the social world from the perspective of the respondent with reference to one's self concept. The technique's use is described relative to social psychology, the self, and the traditional symbolic interactionist measure -- the Twenty Statement Test (TST). The AP course assignment, evaluation, assessment, and limitations are presented Learnings for both the undergraduate student and sociology instructor are discussed.

Community Economic Change And Depression Evidence From The 1980'S Farm Crisis, David R. Johnson, Suzanne T. Ortega, Betty J. Craft

Great Plains Sociologist

This paper examines the effect of aggregate economic conditions in communities on individual levels of depression. While the effect of economic conditions on mental health has been examined at the aggregate level and at the individual level, models including both individual and aggregate processes are necessary to differentiate contextual from individual processes impacting mental health status. Both cross-sectional and panel data from a sample of respondents representative of a Great Plains state on which data were available in 1981,1986, and1989 were used in the analysis. The cross-sectional analysis in 1989 consisted of2,485 respondents. Panel data from 916 respondents in1981-1986 and …

Front Matter

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter
Editorial Policy Statement
Table of Contents

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Janet Kelly Moen, reviewer
The Changing American Countryside: Rural People and Places
Emery N. Castle, editor

Diane Kayongo-Male, reviewer
Harvest of Hope: Family Farming/Farming Families
Lorraine Garkovich, Janet L. Bokemeier, and Barbara Foote

Carl J. Cumber, reviewer
Beyond the Amber Waves of Grain: An Examination of Social and Economic Restructuring in the Heartland
Paul Lasley, F. Larry Leistritz, Linda M. Lobao, and Katherine Meyer

Geoffrey Grant, reviewer
Any Way You Cut It: Meat Processing in Small-Town America
edited by Donald D. Stull, Michael J. Broadway, and David Griffith

Elizabeth Evenson Williams, reviewer
The Prairie Winnows Out Its Own: The West …

Native American Return Migration To Reservation Areas, Patricia A. Joffer, Mary K. Wagner

Great Plains Sociologist

This research investigates the question, using qualitative methodology, why Native Americans return to reservation areas in South Dakota after living elsewhere. Rational choice theory helps explain this return migration more successfully than other orientations. Interviews were conducted with 36 return migrants using a key informant and snowball sampling techniques.